Monday, January 9, 2023

Crucified with Christ

 

Dee and Deb 


Galations 2:20

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Greetings children of God! I am so pleased to be bringing you an update. Alot has been going on in the ministry. I would also like to say that our whole lives are a ministry opportunity, every where we go we have the chance for people to see Jesus living inside of us. There is no opportunity wasted even if you are unable to share verbally with someone about the good news Gospel they will see it in your actions and even in the way you look. 

Landfill rescue program: rescued, restored and redeemed. 

Many of you are aware of our vision to rescue people from the Tijuana landfill and teach them about Jesus and how much He loves us and cherishes us. Teach them how to live in their new creation identity. 

In May we rescued our first person Jesus Roberto and he stayed with us on our property in a small travel trailer actually a "vintage" 1972 19 foot Prowler that one of our friends donated. We do daily devotionals, twice a day and Frank is going through the celebrate recovery program with the guys. Yay! In September we rescued our second person Alfonso (Poncho). Both of them together have over 40 years living in the landfill so it is not only a recovery program/identity training it is also a re-entry back into society from a long hard life. The Lord placed it on my heart before I ever moved to Mexico to help people living in the landfills. He blessed me with a husband who himself lived in the same landfill and together with the help of many we have begun our vision. In October we rented a two bedroom home across the street from our home. We have hope to bring out 4 more people for the year 2023. 

Jesus Roberto and Alfonso
Jesus Roberto and Alfonso






We have taken this vision one step at a time and all that has been needed has showed up at the perfect time. We trust in the Lord to fulfill all of our needs and those that He has placed in our care. Yay!!

Tijuana landfill:

Each month we go into the landfill to pray for and give food and water along with clothes as they are donated to those who live there. We host groups that want to go and do ministry or we go with team Mexico each visit is different. We bring hope to those who live there along with the redemption stories of Jesus Roberto, Alfonso and Frank. They see the actual proof that Jesus Christ lives and is alive in us. We know that His sacrifice on the cross is what makes all of this possible. At Christmas time we are blessed with donations of beanies and gloves and blankets. Thank you to all who go with us and to all who come from the states to help us with this vision that the Lord has given us. Set the captives free! The people that still live at the landfill are so happy to see Jesus Roberto and Alfonso returning and doing good. They say "it's working" we know it is Jesus Christ who is working in their lives. Jesus Roberto and Alfonso are praying for the people and helping in all aspects of ministry. Praise the Lord :)

Jesus Roberto

Alfonso


Alfonso 

Rain 

Ron and Ruben




Deb and kids from the landfill 

Gift of groceries: monthly food bags for disabled and elderly

Each month we are blessed to be able to provide 40 food bags to elderly and disabled individuals in Valle de las Palmas and Cerro Azul with the help of team Mexico. Brother Jose helps deliver the food to those in need. In December we were able to go to the homes of many of the people that we bless on a monthly basis and pray for them and their needs. One of the most beautiful parts was that Alfonso and Jesus Roberto were able to see the whole process from making the food bags to delivering them to those in need. We also provide adult diapers to those in need as we receive the donations. Thank you to all who help us from the donation of the food to those who help us assemble the bags and also deliver the food.

Deb and Alfonso

Jesus Roberto and Alfonso



Alfonso and Jesus Roberto 

Brother Jose 

Youth group/English class:

We have turned the English class into our youth group that we teach English to, along with a lot of other activities and opportunities for learning. The youth helped us for 4 weeks in a row to make decorations for our Christmas event. We also moved the class over to the house that we now rent for the re-entry program. It is much warmer than the class room we were using and it also has a kitchen which the kids enjoy because now we can make them breakfast and snacks. Plus the guys are now involved in teaching (Alfonso speaks English) and Jesus Roberto has a puppet that he enjoys interacting with the kids with. 






Alfonso helping teach 

Jesus Roberto with his puppet

School program: 

Praise report for the school program, Isabella is in her last year of medical school currently doing clinical training in the hospital. Dayra has graduated from her certified nursing program and is considering going to a military high school which would qualify her for a nursing program through the military. We are so blessed to be able to offer hope to these youth that would not have had the ability to continue their education with assistance. All of this is made possible through donations. 

Isabella 

Isabella 

Dayra 

Projects: Taco stand roof project

Frank and myself were able to help our goddaughters family who are a family of 9. Judith had 3 kids and Raul had 3 kids and they were like the Mexican version of the Brady Bunch. Then they had Melisa and asked us to be her godparents. All of the kids are in the youth group. They have a taco stand in Cerro Azul with a very leaky roof and were not able to work when it rained, the business was their sole support for the family of 9.  The Lord touched our hearts to help them. Praise the Lord for providing the funds for us to be able to bless them. 










Christmas event:

The yearly Christmas event was amazing! We rent a building as a neutral location a place where all of the different churches feel comfortable coming together. Over 200 people attended and were blessed by delicious food, beautiful worship music, an uplifting message, warm blankets, beanies and gloves. It is an opportunity for the churches to come together in our area. We had 15 churches from Mexico  attend and people from 5 different churches from the states helping, plus people that do not attend a church come in also. The youth helped us to decorate and team Mexico helped with the food and clean up. Lolo's sober living from Tecate helped us with parking and security plus the bouncy house. It was a beautiful community event.  Praise the Lord :) thankyou to all who helped us and also to all who donated for beanies, gloves, warm blankets. 










Dayra and Melisa 

The Junior High school contacted us about giving donations to the Senior center for their Christmas event. The school put on an event and we were able to attend and help hand out items. We donated beanies, gloves and warm blankets. We bought 200 blankets this year to be able to bless people with. We get the blankets wholesale from a Brother in Ensenada so we are able to buy in bulk which is a huge blessing to all of us. 





Christmas tree:
Since it was the guys first Christmas out of the landfill they really wanted a Christmas tree. We decided since the cost of fresh tree was a little pricey that the money would be better spent on food for a nice meal for them for Christmas. With that being said we all prayed at our morning meeting for a Christmas tree to just show up. Literally at the door is what I said and the guys also prayed in fact we thanked the Lord for the Christmas tree. We had received some bread donations and were in the process of giving it away, so Frank called the neighbor over to give him some bread. Lo and behold the neighbor his name is Charlie asked us if we wanted a Christmas tree!! Frank said "there is your tree." Then his brother came over his name is Juan and he also said I had a tree picked out to give you guys. So we were blessed with two trees!! Praise the Lord :)







Soldiers for Christ: 
Soldiers for Christ from Bakersfield California came all the way to our storage unit at the border during a tropical storm to bring us canned food and water to hand out to those in need. Praise the Lord, we are so appreciative of all the donations we receive. We are blessed to be a blessing. 






Last but not least the ministry received a trailer donation to help with a family in need or a visiting group who needs a place to stay also hosting a long term missionary would be an option. A special thank you to Ruben for bringing the trailer down to us and thank you to David for the generous donation. Thank you to all who made this donation possible. 



Thank you to all who pray for and support us. This whole ministry is funded by donations. Frank and myself are so honored to be in such a place where our lives are a living example of giving back to those who are in need. Thank you for helping us make this possible. God is Love :)















1 comment:

  1. Wonderful ministry of Frank and Deb Verdin . Many many people blessed .

    ReplyDelete